RETAIL
Walmart buys lingerie firm
Walmart Inc on Friday said it would buy online lingerie retailer Bare Necessities Ltd, the latest acquisition in a niche-brand buying spree. Walmart declined to disclose how much it is paying for Bare Necessities, but said the deal would help deepen its expertise in the world of bras, swimwear and shapewear. Bare Necessities would remain a stand-alone site, the company said. Bare Necessities cofounder and chief executive officer Noah Wrubel would also lead the intimates area for Walmart.com and Jet.com.
BANKING
KKR to buy assets in India
KKR & Co is seeking to acquire assets from stressed Indian shadow lenders, as it tries to take advantage of the market disruption after a rare money market default by Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd. The private equity company’s two Indian credit units might spend as much as 20 billion rupees (US$271.42 million) combined with purchase portfolios from local finance companies, KKR India chief executive officer Sanjay Nayar said on Friday.
AUTOMAKERS
Tesla mulls making liquor
What started as an April Fools’ Day joke that left a poor taste in Tesla Inc investors’ mouths might soon become a reality. The electric automaker on Monday submitted a trademark application for Teslaquila, describing the planned product as a distilled agave liquor. The application was filed as “based on intent to use,” which means that Tesla does not have the product ready just yet. The company needs to actually be making a product to obtain the trademark.
BLOCKCHAIN
Cohn turns start-up advisor
Gary Cohn, the former chief economic aide to US President Donald Trump and president of Goldman Sachs Group Inc, would serve as an adviser to blockchain technology start-up Spring Labs. Joining Spring Labs is his most high-profile move since resigning as National Economic Council director earlier this year after Trump imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel that Cohn opposed.
FASHION
Icicle to acquire Carven
China’s Icicle (之禾), a fashion firm that focuses on using natural fibers, was selected on Friday to take fashion label Carven out of bankruptcy, lawyers for the storied French company told reporters. One of seven offers, Icicle bid a little more than 6.5 million euros (US$7.52 million) for the company, which was founded in 1945 and sought bankruptcy protection in May. Icicle has pledged to invest another 8 million into the company. Carven’s last publicly disclosed figures were a net profit of 67,000 euros on sales of 49 million euros in 2015.
INSURANCE
Firm to shed extra US control
Prudential Financial Inc could as soon as next week shed the too-big-to-fail label that the US government slapped on it after the 2008 financial crisis, a person familiar with the matter said. The Financial Stability Oversight Council has been considering freeing the New Jersey-based insurer from heightened oversight for months. A vote on the matter might come when the panel meets in Washington on Tuesday, said the person, who asked not to be named because a decision has not yet been announced.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last